Recipe: Pasta and Chickpea Soup with Pesto

Pasta and Chickpea Soup with Pesto

1 tbsp olive oil
2 cups chopped onion
1 cup (about 1 small) sliced leek
1 tbsp chopped fresh or 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
2 garlic cloves; minced
4 cups (about 2 pounds) chopped tomatoes
3 cups water
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can vegetable broth
1 can (14-ounce) chickpeas (garbanzo beans), undrained
1 cup diced zucchini
1/2 cup frozen petite green peas
1/2 cup frozen baby lima beans
1/2 cup frozen French-cut green beans
1/3 cup uncooked pastina; (tiny star-shaped pasta) or any small pasta
2 tbsp chopped fresh or 2 teaspoons dried parsley
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp commercial pesto
2 tbsp (1/2 ounce) grated fresh parmesan cheese

Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion, leek, rosemary, and garlic, and saute 10 minutes. Add tomato, water, broth, and chickpeas, and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce and simmer 30 minutes.

Add zucchini, peas, lima beans, and green beans; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat; simmer 10 minutes. Stir in pastina, parsley, and pepper, and cook 8 minutes.

Spoon 1 1/2 cups soup into each of bowls; top each serving with 1 teaspoon pesto sauce and 1 teaspoon cheese.

CALORIES 271(25% from fat); FAT 7.5g (sat l.8g mono 4.1, poly 1.3g); PROTEIN 1O.5g; CARB 43.3g; FIBER 8.8g; CHOL 3mg; IRON 3.8mg; SODIUM 659mg;
CALC 148mg

Yield: 6 servings
Source: Cooking Light, March 1999